1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to improvements in constructions for valves for compressed gas control. More particularly, the invention relates to improvements particularly suited for controlling internal operation of gas release valves in paintball markers.
2. Description of the Known Art
The game of paintball uses pneumatic guns that frangible capsules containing a marking material (paintballs). Participants fire the paintballs in an attempt to hit the other player and “mark” them as eliminated from the game. Thus, the physical devices used to launch the paintball are called “markers.” These markers have two basic mechanisms including one for loading the paintball into the firing position and the other for releasing a quantity of gas to launch the paintball from the marker.
The original style of paintball markers used a two tube system with one tube housing a bolt that loads a paintball into position and another tube housing a poppet valve for releasing a quantity of Compressed gas. In these designs a hammer in the lower tube is connected to a bolt in the upper tube and the two usually move together to chamber a ball and strike a poppet style pin valve. While the setup requires few o-rings it has its drawbacks in needing separate components for the bolt and hammer, a connecting linkage between the two, a large body and heavy springs to generate the force required to open the poppet valve.
Newer marker designs are incorporating the valve and bolt into a single tube to reduce the material costs of the paintball marker. These single tube designs are commonly referred to as “spool valve” style guns. The bolt is moved axially forward to chamber the ball into the breach. At the apex of the motion either a valve is released or the bolt moves past some form of seal that allows high pressure gas to enter the breach and propel the ball out of the barrel.
The bolt is usually moved by means of applying gas pressure to a chamber on the outside of the bolt which then acts against a lip on the bolt's exterior. The main gas pressure chamber is usually behind the bolt or around a rear section of the bolt. While this design provides for a fast actuation and a simple design, it also requires a significant amount of axial length to accommodate the necessary components. Furthermore, the number of seals required for these designs introduces a large amount of friction force. The friction force can vary from shot to shot which causes inconsistent ball release and launching speed. This variation can cause variation in how long the bolt is forward and how much gas is released to the ball. To minimize the variations in how much gas is released to the ball, some of these “spool valve” markers incorporate an “on-off” mechanism as part of the bolt. When the bolt is rearward a gas chamber is allowed to fill with gas. When the bolt moves forward it closes the chamber off to any more incoming gas. The chambered gas is what propels the ball when the gun fires. This on-off mechanism necessitates more seals, and hence more complexity to the paintball gun. Finally, the use of an exterior lip on the bolt to propel it forward and rearward usually makes the gas passages from the air chamber to the ball smaller then they might otherwise be. The small passages create the need for higher gas pressures to move the needed gas from the chamber to the ball. These higher pressures tend to make the internal seals fail faster and further contribute to the increase in friction with these designs. These higher pressures also make it necessary to use high pressure solenoid valves to actuate the bolt or a secondary pressure regulator to allow use of standard, low pressure solenoid valves. Both situations increase the cost of the paintball marker.
As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, launching device have been known for a long time. Patents disclosing information relevant to projectile launching devices includes: U.S. Pat. No. 645,932, issued to Ferrant on Mar. 27, 1900; U.S. Pat. No. 1,167,178, issued to Hill on Jan. 4, 2016; U.S. Pat. No. 1,343,127, issued to Hallinan on Jun. 8, 2020; U.S. Pat. No. 1,743,576, issued to Smith on Jan. 14, 1930; U.S. Pat. No. 2,550,887, issued to Tratsch on May 1, 1951; U.S. Pat. No. 2,568,432, issued to Cook on Sep. 18, 1951; U.S. Pat. No. 2,845,055, issued to Collins et al. on Jul. 29, 1958; U.S. Pat. No. 3,089,476, issued to Wolverton on May 14, 1963; U.S. Pat. No. 3,494,344, issued to Vadas et al. on Feb. 10, 1970; U.S. Pat. No. 3,572,310, issued to Kensuke Chiba on Mar. 23, 1971; U.S. Pat. No. 3,695,246, issued to Filippi et al. on Oct. 3, 1972; U.S. Pat. No. 3,818,887, issued to Akiyama et al. on Jun. 25, 1974; U.S. Pat. No. 4,066,000, issued to Rostocil on Jan. 3, 1978; U.S. Pat. No. 4,589,327 issued to Smith on May 20, 1986; U.S. Pat. No. 4,679,487, issued to Houseman on Jul. 14, 1987; U.S. Pat. No. 4,694,815, issued to Hung on Sep. 22, 1987; U.S. Pat. No. 4,770,153, issued to Edelman on Sep. 13, 1988; U.S. Pat. No. 4,779,245, issued to Chelminski on Oct. 18, 1988; U.S. Pat. No. 4,819,609, issued to Tippmann on Apr. 11, 1989; U.S. Pat. No. 4,899,717, issued to Rutten et al. on Feb. 13, 1990; U.S. Pat. No. 4,936,282, issued to Dobbins et al. on Jun. 26, 1990; U.S. Pat. No. 5,063,905, issued to Farrell on Dec. 12, 1991; U.S. Pat. No. 5,078,118, issued to Perrone on Jan. 7, 1992; U.S. Pat. No. 5,228,427, issued to Gardner, Jr. on Jul. 20, 1993; U.S. Pat. No. 5,261,384, issued to Hu on Nov. 16, 1993; U.S. Pat. No. 5,280,778, issued to Kotsiopoulos on Jan. 25, 1994; U.S. Pat. No. 5,282,454, issued to Bell, et al. on Feb. 1, 1994; U.S. Pat. No. 5,462,042, issued to Grenwell on Oct. 31, 1995; U.S. Pat. No. 5,503,137, issued to Fusco on Apr. 2, 1996; U.S. Pat. No. 5,613,483, issued to Lukas et al. on Mar. 25, 1997; U.S. Pat. No. 5,634,456, issued to Perrone on Jun. 3, 1997; U.S. Pat. No. 5,727,538, issued to Ellis on Mar. 17, 1998; U.S. Pat. No. 5,736,720, issued to Bell, et al. on Apr. 7, 1998; U.S. Pat. No. 5,816,232, issued to Bell on Oct. 6, 1998; U.S. Pat. No. 5,878,736, issued to Lotuaco, III on Mar. 9, 1999; U.S. Pat. No. 5,881,707, issued to Gardner, Jr. on Mar. 16, 1999; U.S. Pat. No. 5,890,479, issued to Morin on Apr. 6, 1999; U.S. Pat. No. 5,913,303, issued to Kotsiopoulos on Jun. 22, 1999; U.S. Pat. No. 5,967,133, issued to Gardner, Jr. on Oct. 19, 1999; U.S. Pat. No. 6,003,504, issued to Rice et al. on Dec. 21, 1999; U.S. Pat. No. 6,035,843, issued to Smith et al. on Mar. 14, 2000; U.S. Pat. No. 6,065,460, issued to Lotuaco, III on May 23, 2000; U.S. Pat. No. 6,138,656, issued to Rice et al. on Oct. 31, 2000; U.S. Pat. No. 6,142,137, issued to MacLaughlin on Nov. 7, 2000; U.S. Pat. No. 6,349,711, issued to Perry et al. on Feb. 26, 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 6,439,217, issued to Shih on Aug. 27, 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 6,474,326, issued to Smith et al. on Nov. 5, 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 6,532,949, issued to McKendrick on Mar. 18, 2003; U.S. Pat. No. 6,553,983, issued to Li on Apr. 29, 2003; U.S. Pat. No. 6,590,386, issued to Williams on Jul. 8, 2003; U.S. Pat. No. 6,615,814, issued to Rice et al. on Sep. 9, 2003; U.S. Pat. No. 6,637,420, issued to Moritz on Oct. 28, 2003; U.S. Pat. No. 6,637,421, issued to Smith et al. on Oct. 28, 2003; U.S. Pat. No. 6,644,295, issued to Jones on Nov. 11, 2003; U.S. Pat. No. 6,694,963, issued to Taylor on Feb. 24, 2004; U.S. Pat. No. 6,739,322, issued to Rice, et al. on May 25, 2004; U.S. Pat. No. 6,763,822, issued to Styles on Jul. 20, 2004; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,802,306, issued to Rice on Oct. 12, 2004. Each of these patents is hereby expressly incorporated by reference in their entirety.
Even with this plethora of designs, these prior art systems continue to have the major disadvantages previously discussed. Thus, it may be seen that these prior art patents are very limited in their teaching and utilization, and an improved paintball marker is needed to overcome these limitations.